Arlen Specter

Forget The Bachelor, there's a new man on television, but instead of vying for 25 desperate women, he's hoping for the attention of the 25 people who watch Maryland Public Television. A new show debuting on the station stars none other than Pennsylvania's own Arlen Specter . (Why Maryland and not Pennsylvania? We shrug). “Arlen Specter's The Whole Truth” will examine the issues of the day, reports The Washington Post . The pilot will focus on a topic that Specter has expressed much anguish over in the past (should make for some good television drama, maybe a Jerry Springer-esque slugfest?

The Admiral is readying for a rematch. Former U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak, who has played it coy since his narrow loss to Pat Toomey in the grueling 2010 Senate race, announced Tuesday morning by email that he's formed an exploratory committee to run again for the Senate in 2016. The move means the Delaware County Democrat has ruled out running for governor in 2014, and that he's set his sights on going back to Washington. If he runs, Sestak will be competing in a presidential year, which are traditionally more favorable to Democrats because of the party's voter registration advantage in the state.

TODAY'S QUESTION: How do you think Pennsylvanians will look back on Arlen Specter's tenure as the longest-serving U.S. senator in the state's history? Party switch led to loss of respect for Specter I know that I will look back on it and say that I'm glad it's over. I don't have a lot of respect for people who change their party affiliation, and I don't feel that he represented me as I wanted to be represented. While length of service can be a good thing, it doesn't automatically mean that the person should be lauded.

When the U.S. Senate adjourned for the night Monday, they did so in honor of the late Arlen Specter. The Senate passed a resolution honoring Specter's life, sponsored by U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., and co-signed by every senator. The resolution is a ticktock of Specter's life and accomplishments, noting highlights such as his work as district attorney in Philadelphia, on the Warren Commission investigating President Kennedy's assassination and his three decades as Pennsylvania's U.S. senator.

TAMPA, Fla. — Arlen Specter, the longtime U.S. senator and storied Pennsylvania politician who was a Republican institution for decades before switching political parties and losing in a Democratic primary two years ago, is hospitalized with cancer. "I am battling cancer, and it's another battle I intend to win," Specter, who earlier survived a brain tumor and non-Hodgkins lymphoma, said in a statement issued Tuesday. "I am grateful for the well wishes I have received, and I am looking forward to getting back to work, to the comedy stage, the squash court and the ballpark.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Former U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, the Republican-turned-Democrat who played a key role in many Supreme Court nominations, has died. He was 82. His son Shanin Specter says his father died Sunday morning at his home in Philadelphia, from complications of non-Hodgkins lymphoma. He had battled cancer and other health problems. Specter served 30 years in the Senate, a Pennsylvania record. In April 2009, he startled fellow senators when he announced he was switching to the Democratic side because he did not think he could win the nomination for a sixth term in the increasingly conservative GOP. He wound up losing the 2010 Democratic primary to then-Rep.

At the end he was ridiculed by some, disliked by many, and ignored by most. But at his prime and in his time, he was among the most powerful politicians in America, widely respected, frequently feared and always a presence. His term in the Senate — some 30 years — encompassed six presidents and some of the most remarkable times in American history. Arlen Specter was a player in much of it — from his earlier controversial service on the Warren Commission in the 1960s to his precedent-setting party switch in 2009.

PHILADELPHIA — Former Sen. Arlen Specter, who has already survived two bouts of Hodgkin's disease, is now battling non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, according to his son's law firm. A statement released Friday said Specter, 82, had been released from a Philadelphia hospital but was expected to return there for additional treatment. Specter said in a statement last week that he was again fighting cancer. "It's another battle I intend to win," Specter wrote. "I'm grateful for all the well wishes I've received.

SCRANTON — Barred-from-banking businessman Louis DeNaples enlisted a big name in the political and legal community in his fight with federal regulators: former U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter. The Philadelphia Republican-turned-Democrat has joined forces with a team of Washington banking attorneys in the bid to overturn the lifetime ban on banking that regulators imposed on DeNaples, a key shareholder and former president of the board of directors of Dunmore-based First National Community Bank and founder of Mount Airy Casino Resort.

For 30 years, Arlen Specter stood as a symbol for so much that now seems to have disappeared from today's Senate. Specter, the five-term ex-senator who died Sunday, occupied a space in the Senate that no longer fits the current political environment: raging centrist. From the day he was first sworn in in January 1981, Specter spent his career finding ways to enrage both ends of the ideological spectrum, throwing his always sharp elbows at liberals one month only to do the same to conservatives the next month.

For 30 years, Arlen Specter stood as a symbol for so much that now seems to have disappeared from today's Senate. Specter, the five-term ex-senator who died Sunday, occupied a space in the Senate that no longer fits the current political environment: raging centrist. From the day he was first sworn in in January 1981, Specter spent his career finding ways to enrage both ends of the ideological spectrum, throwing his always sharp elbows at liberals one month only to do the same to conservatives the next month.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Arlen Specter, Pennsylvania's longest-serving U.S. senator, will be remembered at a public funeral service attended by Vice President Joe Biden, his longtime senate colleague. Specter, 82, died at home Sunday of complications from non-Hodgkin lymphoma. His funeral service is scheduled for noon Tuesday at Har Zion Temple in Penn Valley, near Philadelphia. Specter's long political career thrust him to the center of many pivotal events in modern American history.

- In 1980, when Arlen Specter was contemplating a run for the U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania, his son Shanin tried to discourage him. The younger Specter worried that his father, after years of political defeats, would be humiliated at the polls. Specter listened but ran anyway, going on, as history records, to notch five consecutive Senate victories. Still there were battles, and Shanin said his father always told him: "Never let your face show how hard your ass is getting kicked.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Former U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, the Republican-turned-Democrat who played a key role in many Supreme Court nominations, has died. He was 82. His son Shanin Specter says his father died Sunday morning at his home in Philadelphia, from complications of non-Hodgkins lymphoma. He had battled cancer and other health problems. Specter served 30 years in the Senate, a Pennsylvania record. In April 2009, he startled fellow senators when he announced he was switching to the Democratic side because he did not think he could win the nomination for a sixth term in the increasingly conservative GOP. He wound up losing the 2010 Democratic primary to then-Rep.

Arlen Specter, a former Philadelphia prosecutor whose principal passion has always been law, used his final speech on the U.S. Senate floor to deliver what he described as his "closing argument" that decried a loss of civility among his colleagues. He stood Tuesday in the same spot where he had given countless speeches over a 30-year career -- defending federal funds for the National Institutes of Health or explaining constitutional nuances -- to reiterate his passions, but also to deliver a stinging evaluation of his colleagues and their partisanship.

(Reuters) - Former U.S. Senator Arlen Specter, a major political figure in Pennsylvania and Washington for more than four decades, died on Sunday of complications from non-Hodgkins lymphoma at age 82, his son said. Specter had announced in August that he was once again fighting cancer. His son Shanin Specter confirmed his death. A political moderate, Specter was a five-term U.S. senator from Pennsylvania, serving as a Republican until he switched parties and became a Democrat in 2009.

Contrary to the thinking of many fellow Republicans, I cannot begin to say how happy I am to see Arlen Specter finally leave the Republican Party, even if the sacrifice is a temporary inability to filibuster. Specter's voting record has been the envy of liberal Democrats -- they deserve him. A lifelong opportunist, he remains the narcissistic embodiment of a "self servant" -- the antithesis of what a public servant should be. I look forward to doing all that I can to hasten Mr. Specter's retirement.

Feb. 12, 1930: Born in Witchita, Kan., to Lillian and Harry Specter, Russian immigrants. 1956: Graduated from Yale Law School. 1963-64: Serves on Warren Commission investigating assassination of President John F. Kennedy and advances single-bullet theory. 1965: A registered Democrat, Specter is elected Philadelphia district attorney on the Republican ticket. He switches to GOP and serves until 1974. 1976: Loses Republican U.S. Senate primary to eventual winner Sen. John Heinz.

Arlen Specter is an institution in Pennsylvania politics who surmounted political attacks from both sides and mastered a gritty, take-no-prisoners campaign style that, in the past, guaranteed his success against even the toughest opponents. But on Tuesday, Specter met his match. Himself. Many factors led to his crippling Democratic primary loss to Joe Sestak. Some blame the rainy weather and the low voter turnout. Others credit a television commercial, run in the final weeks of the U.S. Senate campaign, showing footage of Specter saying he became a Democrat to get re-elected.